Graham's Magazine, Vol. XIX, No. 4, October 1841Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XIX, No. 4, October 1841
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
The friends of William Russell had already assembled to perform the last
sad duties to his remains. He was to be interred here, in accordance
with the request of her who was to have been his bride.
“Here,” said she, “here on this little island he was slain, and here let
him be buried. Here I will spend many of my hours; I will plant flowers
around his grave. Here I can come and weep, away from all eyes but the
eye of Him who has seen fit to afflict me thus.”
The ceremony had just been performed and they were just turning away
from the grave, when all eyes were directed to a canoe which was slowly
moving up the river. It had two occupants. One sat motionless in the
stern—the other was gently using the paddle. As it approached the
island, Tahattawa regarded it with a fixed and earnest gaze. As she did
so her heart beat quick and her eyes darted with joy.
“It is—it is _he_,” cried she, “Wawhillowa;” and away she bounded to
the shore. As the canoe touched the bank, the Indian, who sat in the
stern, stepped on shore. The next instant his companion pushed off,
turned down the stream, and quickly disappeared from view.
Wawhillowa—for it was he—advanced with a few staggering, uncertain
steps towards the girl, but before they met, he fell headlong on the
ground. Those who had been standing around the grave now approached. The
girl sat holding his head, and chafing his temples with her hands. He
had fainted. The blood was slowly oozing from a wound by a rifle ball in
the right breast. It appeared to have bled considerably, for it had run
down even to his ankle, and the right leggin was deeply stained.
Tahattawa looked the very image of despair. Hope had been kindled in her
breast only to be destroyed, and her poor heart could hardly contain its
grief.
Shaomet ran to his tent, and brought a calabash full of water from the
river, and some being sprinkled on the face of the young warrior, he
slowly revived. Turning a melancholy glance on those around them, his
eye brightened for a moment, and the sternness of his features relaxed
as his look rested on the face of his betrothed.
“Tahattawa,” said he, in a feeble voice, “I am dying. Bury me—here—on
the island. I am going—to the—happy—hunting grounds. See!—the
spirit—of my father—calls me.—Ha! It grows dark—Tahattawa!”
The poor girl bent over him till her face rested on his bosom. When she
again raised her eyes, the spirit of the Nonotuck chief had departed,
and she looked on the cold, fixed features of the dead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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